Once again looking ahead to 2007, my pick for sleeper issue of the year is the economy. It’s been off the radar for quite some time now but signs indicate it may very well dominate the agenda regardless of whether or not some politicians want it to.

The chart on the left is one reason why the economy will become an issue. As you can plainly see, it has stalled. Although the leading indicators have picked up recently, they still show signs of weakness, leading me to believe that this period of stagnation will continue into at least the first half of `07.

At this time it’s still unclear as to whether or not this slowdown will turn into a recession, but indications lean toward no. The CPI for example is rising at a below average rate which means there will be no pressure on the Bank of Canada to raise interest rates. None the less, this slowdown, combined with ongoing weakness in the Ontario and Quebec economies will be enough to put the issue on the radar.

Another reason I believe the economy will become a major issue in 2007 is because of what turned into one of the major issues in 2006; the environment. Canadians are finally waking up to the fact that we are not as environmentally friendly as the Liberals had us believing we were. And if there’s one thing the real powers in Canada–the economic powers–don’t want to see as an issue it’s the environment; which always brings with it regulations that hamper the ability of the economic elite to plunder this nation for their own enrichment.

So I suspect there’s going to be a push to get the environment off the front pages–which would suit the Conservatives just fine–and replace it with talk about the economy. The recent slowdown will provide the perfect means for it to happen.

Looking ahead to 2007, it occurred to me that it’s going to be the year of elections in Canada. Odds favour a federal election taking place before year’s end and it’s likely there will be provincial elections in Ontario, Alberta, Quebec, PEI, Newfoundland, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories before we ring in 2008.

With such a large number of elections happening in the same taxation year–and a possible federal election resulting in 3 in less than 4 years–it makes me wonder if the parties will be able to get through it without going bankrupt; especially in light of the more stringent donation laws. It’s doubtful, even for the self touted Tory money machine. Which means in order to get their message out, the parties will need to become more reliant on freebies; such as partisan blogs.

So in addition to being the year of elections, 2007 is also likely to be the year the Canadian political blogosphere makes its mark on the political landscape.

It looks like the Americans will be marking the new year with another grim milestone.

The RCMP, if it already hasn’t, should begin investigating this.

For the second time in two weeks, a mysterious rabble rouser has circulated a prank news release forging party member names and calling for NDP Leader Jack Layton’s resignation.

While conservatives and liberals might be getting a chuckle out of this, they too should be concerned about it because if left unchecked it will undoubtably spread to engulf their parties as well. Voters already have to deal with far too much disinformation on the internet without having to also deal with hundreds, possibly even thousands, of fraudulent emails and news releases.

Who is this kitten; the real mastermind behind the power in Ottawa or a future late night Prime Ministerial snack?

We don’t know, but the Conservative Party of Canada went to great lengths to give it exposure to the Canadian public. Rest assured though, the Blahg will be getting to the bottom of this mystery over the holidays.

Once again it’s almost time for the Blahg to adopt its usual festive mood in honour of the birth of baby jeebus. Which means the nasty partisanship will soon be tucked away for about a week in the spirit of the season. So I best hurry if I want to point out what a bunch of wankers the Harper conservatives are with this investigation into the case of the photoshopped Christmas pic.

Examine the evidence.


The first picture I grabbed off the two internets a week or two ago when a few blahggers were talking about it. It’s the picture that’s supposedly on the Harper family Christmas card. The second picture I received last night in an email from the Conservative Party.

There’s one obvious difference between the two pictures; the kitten. But here’s the thing. Examine the poses of Stephen, his wife and his son. What you’ll see is that they’re almost identical in the two pictures. There are minor differences which tells me that these two shots were part of a sequence taken over a very short time span without pause by the photographer.

So how is it that a kitten was either introduced into the picture or removed from the picture without significantly altering the pose of those three? It’s simply not possible, especially when you consider that the chair Stephen is sitting in was also moved.

How do I know the chair isn’t in the same position? Well, examine the fireplace in the background. Pick any identifiable point on the fireplace between Stephen and his son. On the first picture place your cursor on this point and then move the cursor down in a straight line until it reaches the arm of the chair. Note its position in relation to the pattern on the fabric of the arm. Now repeat the procedure, using the same point, for the second picture.

See, the armchair has moved. Which also accounts for why the family is closer together in the second picture. And yes, the camera was positioned in the exact same spot for both pictures. Look at the shadows on the wall in the background. They’re identical.

So here is the sequence of events we’re supposed to believe occurred. The Harper family posed for the first picture. Then Stephen got up, moved the armchair and sat back down while a kitten was handed to his daughter and the family drew closer together. Stephen, his wife and his son then managed to strike a pose that’s almost perfectly identical to the one on the first picture; with Stephen even managing to position his hands exactly, and I do mean exactly, the same.

Now that’s some feat…or, dare I say, some fine photoshopping.

There’s one other bit of evidence that’s the smoking gun. Look at the second picture. Look at the buttons on Mrs. Harper’s blouse. You can see one buttoned up near the top and if you follow it straight down you can just barely see the second one. Stephen’s shoulder is covering half the button. Now look at the first picture. You can’t see the second button, but when the picture is enlarged in photoshop you can see that Stephen’s shoulder is covering half the button. The odds of that happening in two photos with so much movement taking place between them must be astronomical.

It’s even obvious how it was done. Examine Stephen’s right shoulder. Look at where the lines of his collar converge with the line of his shoulder. It forms a pattern that looks like the flux capacitor from Back to the Future. Now place your cursor on that point and follow it down until you reach his hands. Repeat for the other photo. It doesn’t line up and in fact, you can visibly see Stephen’s shoulder isn’t as broad in the second picture. Our Prime Minister either must have shrunk between photos or a skilled photoshopper took a slice out of him to draw the family closer together.

Clearly the Christmas picture the Conservatives sent out in their email last night was photoshopped so it would include a kitten. That’s taking image crafting to a whole new wankeriffic level.

Well this is just great. Now the ideology of privatization is putting the lives of Canadians at risk. And what’s the Conservative government’s response to gross incompetence from the private sector? To reward it, of course.

Stockwell Day steps in it.

On the reaction to his last column, Day writes: “Aaaaanyway, it appears that local libs now send bits and pieces of my local columns to their favourite spear-chuckers down east who are quick to unleash a volley of indignation, which makes for good fodder back here at home.”

Had enough yet?

The Blahg media empire seems to be undergoing some sort of weird technical difficulty. While most of the sites are up and running normally, any that have an aggregator of any kind (ie. Blogging Dippers home page, Ontario Blogs, etc.) have all gone bye-bye. Not sure why, maybe it’s a wildcat strike. Or maybe it has something to do with the upgrading Hostgator is engaged in that, according to them, will result in the 5gb of disk space and 75gb of bandwidth I get for $9.95 a month increasing to 100gb of disk space and 1,000gb of bandwidth for the same $9.95 a month. Paladiea and I are going to have to blog for the rest of our lives to even come close to filling up that much capacity. And yes, that was a blatent plug for Hostgator, whose service has been outstanding.

So anyway, that’s what’s up and the problem is being resolved; by patiently waiting to see if it corrects itself. Not that you bastages probably care.

By the way, Paladiea. Whatever this problem is, it’s also taken out the Wordpress dasherboard. So you’ll have to use the backdoor to post. Just click on the edit post icon located at the bottom right of any post–that only you and I can see, due to our superpowers of administration–and that will get you into the admin functions.

Yeah I know you’re probably sick of this topic, but this will be the last post on the subject…at least until the next last post on the subject. I’ve been thinking about how the national parties handle dissent and criticism from within their ranks and from what I’ve seen this pretty much sums up their reactions.

New Democrats: Okay, lets hear what you have to say.

Conservatives: Their reaction to Carol Jamieson and Garth Turner demonstrate that your dissent is likely to result in you waking up next to a horse’s head one morning.

Liberals: As bad as the Conservatives are, they don’t hold a candle to the Liberals. I don’t think I need to rehash any part of the 2-3 year feud between the Martin and Chretien supporters that shook the party right out of office.

Greens: Shut up or we’ll sue your ass.

The post below comes from a closed Yahoo groups for Greens. It was posted last August. I have withheld the author’s name, and made some very small changes (removing two references to specific people). The message had vanished not long after posting. I reposted it. Months later, several of the group’s moderators received legal letters in part claiming that the post was libelous. As the person who posted it, I also received one…

This post is in reference to general problems (and opportunities) within the GPC and how to make the best of them.

Well I think this settles any questions about which party is the adult in the room.

And to answer your question, Mark. No, I can’t see where the libel is either. But then, as I pointed out earlier in this post, rightwing parties do tend to react badly to any dissent or criticism from within their ranks so the threat of a lawsuit is no surprise.

So there’s an email being sent around calling for Jack Layton to resign that’s supposedly from Jennifer Bernier, President of the NDP riding of Abitibi-Témiscamingue. Not surprisingly Canada’s most popular conservative blogger, who routinely makes a habit of being wrong about everything, was quick to post it to her blog. Well, funny thing, but the email is a hoax. This is a translation of the message being sent out by the real Jennifer Bernier.

Hello,

I have just been informed that an e-mail has been circulating since this morning [Tuesday], signed with my name as president of NDP Abitibi–Témiscamingue. I want to let you know that this e-mail is a hoax. I did not sign nor write this text. I am outraged by this contemptible act, which speaks volumes about its unscrupulous author or authors.

Please be assured that my allegiance to the NDP has not at all changed. I am also very proud to have Jack Layton as leader and I wholeheartedly support him.

Please know that I continue to believe that Jack Layton and the NDP are the best choice for the citizens of my riding and for all Canadians.

In solidarity,
Jennifer Bernier
jennifer.bernier@laposte.net
President, NDP Abitibi–Témiscamingue

So lets begin the speculation. Did this fake email come from the Cons or the Libs?

Update: Also, should the RCMP investigate this? Identity theft is a serious crime.

So here’s the latest on the uprising. Devin Johnston has opened up the floor to suggestions from the Blogging Dippers for what they’d like to see the party do with its web strategy. And I have it on good authority directly from the NDP’s communications director, Joanne Deer, that the party is listening. So have at it Dippers.

On a related front, Accidental Deliberations has taken exception to the Macleans article about our spat and is asking everyone to write about why Canada needs the NDP.

I personally think AD and a few other Dippers are getting worried over nothing with the Macleans article. It was expected that some member of the Canadian press would write about this. After all, an intra party squabble sounds exactly like the ringing of a Pavlovian bell to them and is certain to draw the media hounds to your front door. But so what. Who cares why the media hounds are drooling all over your front porch. What’s important is what you feed them when they arrive. And you’ll notice that Paladiea and I have been busy laying out a scrumptious buffet consisting of Harper and Dion ass. So chow down, media hounds. There’s plenty more where that came from.

That aside, I do second AD’s call for the Blogging Dippers to write about the topic he’s selected. Far too often we bloggers get caught up in the game of pointing fingers at other’s faults and over the Christmas holidays it would be a welcome change of pace to highlight what is not only important to us but why it should also be important to other Canadians.

Now can I get a group hug.

Well the accolades just keep rolling in for the Blahg.

8. Worst blog: On both sides of the ideological spectrum, something called “My Blahg,” operated by NDP supporter Robert McClelland, was viscerally loathed. This may be explained by McClelland’s willingness to post items headlined “Fuck the Jews,” and describe Israelis as “murderers.” A blot on the blogosphere and, possibly, the human race.

While Kinsella’s version of the ideological spectrum is limited to conservative right whingers on one side and liberal right whingers on the other, I’ll none-the-less accept this honour. After all, what blahgger doesn’t want to be acknowledged by becoming the object of someone’s…er, obsession.

PS. I’m disappointed The Eye of Wauron didn’t mention any of my picks. Especially since I took the trouble of wrapping them in a brick and delivering them to his house in person.

PPS. Sorry about the front window, but it wouldn’t fit in the mailbox.

Damned cheese eating surrender monkeys. Well, it looks like it’s just you and me, big guy. Two against the establishment. I like them odds.

From The Dominion. Mullah Abdul Salam Rocketi, MP for the southern province of Zabul.

“When the Taliban came along I gave everything to them because I wanted the country to improve and the people to be safe,” said Rocketi. “Then when the current government came along I gave everything to them because I thought they would make the country better. But I regret that.

“Everything is gone now, we have nothing. I regret it not because I am no longer with the Taliban, but because this government does not have the power to improve our country.

“It’s getting worse and worse and worse. I don’t have any hope. But whatever is happening now, the people can’t complain. If they make a noise the local governor will say they are Taliban or Al-Qaeda and get them sent to Bagram.”

Rocketi - whose name derives from his famed ability with a Rocket-Propelled Grenade launcher - said pressure is building as his country slips backwards.

“I know, I am sure, that soon a very big war will start between the foreigners and the population,” he explained.

Mohammad Hashem Watanwall, MP for the southern province of Uruzgan.

“There is a big fire under the earth. It’s like a volcano and soon it will explode,” he warned. “It will explode if everything continues like now; the corruption, the bad security, the bombing of civilians by coalition forces. Soon it will explode and people will stand up in the name of jihad and martyrdom if there are no big changes.

“Now in parliament the MPs are saying ‘Forget about Pakistan and the Taliban, why are the foreigners here?’

“They are saying a thousand headed dragon is here and it’s the foreign armies. Just imagine, if the MPs are saying that in an official place what will a simple person in a village be saying?”

He added: “Now in parliament they say if you kill a foreigner, a non Muslim, and then you yourself are killed you will become a martyr and go straight to paradise. They see no difference between the military or civilians.”

Ahmad Shah Khan Achekzai, MP for Kandahar.

“The population hates the government, hates the Americans and hates their friends because they are all liars,” he said.

“Soon the jihad will start, that’s right. The Americans and the coalition came to Afghanistan by way of the United Nations, but when they go into people’s houses and search them it’s unacceptable. They are acting against Islam and they are attacking innocent people.

“There will be jihad, I am 100 per cent sure. It’s against our culture, it’s against Islam - if they want to come to our houses they need permission.”

Then, almost as an afterthought, he added: “If the jihad starts, of course I will join it - it’s natural.”

And a new Senlis Council report concludes;

The Taliban are winning hearts and minds in southern Afghanistan; the international community is not. NATO-ISAF troops are forced to fight in an increasingly hostile environment because of the international community’s blunt political errors.
The absence of comprehensive development aid plans has given a strategic advantage to the Taliban.
Time for a well-planned village by village hearts and minds campaign to re-engage the Afghan population and make NATO’s mission a successful one.

Of course there’s little doubt the Conservatives will continue to believe everything is going great.

What a douchebag.

Stephen Harper says his decision to tax income trusts after campaigning against the idea was the most difficult choice he’s had to make as prime minister.

Really! Putting the lives of Canadians further into harms way by extending the mission in Afghanistan would be the decision that weighed on my mind the most were I Prime Minister. But then I guess to a Conservative, money does trump lives.

Devon Rowcliffe has a couple of interesting graphics from the LNC by-election.

The first image shows the results of the 2006 general election in London North Centre and the second shows the results of the November by-election. The colours show what party won each electoral ward.

What you can see is that, contrary to what many pundits have claimed, the Green Party actually made gains mostly at the expense of the Liberal Party. Notice how the big green spot in the middle used to be predominently coloured red.

So why did the NDP suffer the worst drop in popular support. Well, they in turn lost support to the Liberals as seen by the shrinkage of areas coloured yellow in the general election which are now coloured red.

Essentially the Greens ate the Liberal’s lunch while they were busy snacking on the NDP’s lunch. So much for the theory that the NDP is losing support to the Greens.

What is also interesting about these two images, is that the area now dominated by green is at the heart of London’s university and neither show all that much support for the NDP. Which makes me wonder if the NDP’s message is no longer capturing the minds of the mainstream student body.

Macleans writer Kady O’Malley on the “cranky” Blogging Dippers. I only have one comment to make about the article. It’s McClelland, not McLelland.
Thank you.